(14C)-2-deoxyglucose autoradiography is used in three distinct projects: (1) The determination of the neural systems excited by rewarding stimulation of the posterior medial forebrain bundle, lateral preoptic area, medial prefrontal cortex, vicinity of the locus coeruleus and the dorsal raphe in rats. The effects of the dopamine blocker, on the autoradiographic pattern is also determined. (2) The study of the development of functional activity in the cortical barrel fields driven by vibrissal stimulation in rats with various kinds of early treatment (e.g., cut vibrissal). (3) The determination of the extent to which elevated functional activity renders neural systems more vulnerable to permanent damage during hypoxia. Computerized image analyzing techniques and methods for determining the resolution limiting factors are being developed.